As 2021 is about to close and I am saddened like everyone else that Betty White has passed away a few weeks before turning 100, here is the last one of these until sometime in January. There's only two things I'll go in-depth on: receiving a booster shot on Wednesday & spending almost a week in Kansas w/ my sister and her three young sons. 2021 wasn't as bad for me as 2020 was (it'd be difficult to be worse than '20 considering that it included my mom passing away) although it still was not spectacular. At least Christmas was spent with family members and that went well.
It was great to see one of my two sisters, her beau, and three of my nephews. As stated before, they are young boys who are full of energy so I don't know how she does it-heck knows I could never be a parent. There was some “grown ups only” time and that included visiting such local establishments as Ziggy's Pizza, Chick N Max, Barn'rds, a local brewery in Wichita that outside in the back had “igloos” (actually, clear plastic over a frame; there are chairs and even a Bluetooth speaker where you can stream your own tunes), a screening of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation at a science museum on one of their domed screens* and some other places. Then again it was also fine bringing the kids out to Texas Roadhouse and Fuzzy's Tacos; in addition I bought a Mountain Dew Thrashed Apple as those are only in Kroger stores and there's no physical stores in Florida although they have a grocery delivery service in the state; yeah it does taste fine.
In addition, I went to a Duluth Trading Store for the first time and while most of the prices aren't cheap, I found a warm plaid shirt that wasn't too much. For the times in Florida that are actually on the chilly side, it will be nice to have. For the first time I saw episodes of American Horror Story—it was the season in Roanoke and it was amusing to me that part of it was found footage horror... I've seen some BAD movies in that style so while what I saw of the season was a mixed bag, I can't say it was awful. How graphically violent it was, a surprise... but again I've seen much gorier. Anyhow, the most heartwarming moment was that for a few days, a toddler thought of me as his best friend. He sat by me or wanted to sit by me, showed me things in a book he had, and was fascinated by such things as the “scary faces” on the bottle of Mountain Dew Thrashed Apple. I even did such “parent” things as wiping off his feet and pants when they got wet. I'm sure he misses me... the feeling is mutual. If nothing else, it was nice to do something really different from the norm in the dying days of this year.
Two days ago I received a booster shot. Yeah, it was after I flew to Kansas and back via Allegiant Airlines. Considering that hardly anyone wore masks out there in the heartland of America-no kidding, more people in FLORIDA had on masks in places like grocery stores-it was luck that I didn't get sick. This time the shot was in the car at the town's local health clinic. I can't even complain that it was not as efficient as it was when the first two shots were received at a dead mall... after all, they also have to constantly test people for COVID and it has to be a job that will give you gray hair. Afterwards, the experience was just like the second shot: I started to feel bad the night of and the next day was feeling icky & exhausted. At least last night I got a great night's sleep and right now is a 180 from the previous day.
While the virus flaring up again is definitely cause for concern, I still hope that 2022 will feel more like “real life” than the past two years have. I am not doing a thing New Years Eve or New Years Day, which is how I want it to be. A few things are on the docket for January so I'll have things to write for next time.
* The picture was only on part of the screen... and obviously was a Blu-ray projection. That is OK as that was my first theatrical experience w/ the film and it was clear why Exploration Place played the movie a few times: the screening I was at was sold out. Many people did cosplay (not us, though) and alcohol was served. Of course it was fun times.
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